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Saturday Night Live recently tackled one of the great mysteries of the Spanish language: Why does every noun need to be a boy or a girl?
In the sketch featuring the wonderful Marcello Hernandez, a group of men are inventing Spanish from scratch.
Their first big idea?
“Every word is a boy or a girl.”
Morning?
That’s a girl.
La mañana.
Night?
Also a girl.
La noche.
Ocean?
That’s gotta be a boy.
El océano.
Why?
Because, according to SNL, “The ocean is a boy because it’s fun, but sometimes, for no reason, it kills you.”
Fair enough.
If you’re learning Construction Spanish, you’ve probably had the same question.
Why does a hammer, ladder, wall, or piece of concrete need a gender?
The answer goes back thousands of years.
Spanish developed from Latin, which sorted nouns into grammatical categories. As Latin evolved into Spanish, those categories changed, but masculine and feminine nouns stuck around.
Today, the gender of a Spanish noun usually has nothing to do with whether the object itself is masculine or feminine.
A hammer is masculine: el martillo.
A problem is masculine: el problema.
Boots are feminine: las botas.
And while el/la/los/las are not essential for communicating on the job site, it’s wise to learn them.
So, if you’re going to memorize some, start with words you’re likely to hear.
Here are 4 common Spanish nouns worth knowing—along with a useful phrase as well:
la cosa :: thing
la vez :: time / occurrence
Una cosa a la vez, vato.
One thing at a time, dude.
el horario :: the schedule
el tiempo :: time / weather
¿Cómo va a afectar el tiempo al horario?
How’s the weather going to affect the schedule?
If you’re in the field, learn a few words.
Make mistakes.
Ask questions.
Meet people halfway.
You don’t need perfect Spanish to show someone you’re making an effort.
And if you’re leading the organization, go beyond vocabulary.
Develop cultural intelligence.
Understand how different cultures build trust, how they respond to authority, and how their view of the world might differ from yours.
[We wrote about that idea here.]
| Construction has always required people with different skills, backgrounds, and experiences to work together. The leaders who learn how to bridge those differences have an advantage. So, memorize your el and la. Learn a few words. Make a few mistakes. And keep meeting people halfway. You may never understand why morning is a girl. But at least now you know it is. Thanks for reading. We’ll see you back here in two weeks. |
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